This invention relates to ceramic capacitors and in particular, but not exclusively, to multilayer ceramic capacitors and dielectric compositions for use therein.
A multilayer ceramic capacitor basically comprises a stack consisting of a plurality of dielectric members formed of a ceramic material, with electrodes positioned between the members. The electrodes may be screen-printed onto the ceramic material, in the unfired state thereof, using conductive inks. A stack of screen-printed dielectric members is assembled, pressed together, cut into individual components, if appropriate, and fired until sintering occurs, in order to ensure non-porosity. The internal electrodes may be of rectangular form and cover the whole or part of the area of the adjacent dielectric layers. The internal electrodes in successive layers may be sideways stepped relative to one another or have elongate portions which cross one another, as described in our British Patent Application No. 7841677 (Ser. No. 2032689A) (A. L. Oliver--G. Mills 1-1).
With conventionally employed dielectrics the capacitors must be fired at temperatures of the order of 1200.degree.-1400.degree. C., which means that the internal electrodes must be of a suitable material to withstand such temperatures and that expensive noble metals, such as platinum and palladium must be used. However, if the firing temperature can be reduced, by a suitable choice of dielectric, then internal electrodes with a high silver content (50-100% silver) could be used, thus reducing costs for materials and manufacture. In our British Patent Application No. 8120605 (Ser. No. 2107300A) (J. M. Wheeler 1) there is disclosed a dielectric composition which can be fired at a temperature between 950.degree. C. and 1100.degree. C. and can thus be used with high silver content internal electrodes. These low firing temperature dielectrics comprise lead magnesium niobate (PbMg.sub.1/2 Nb.sub.1/2 O.sub.3) with one or more of the following, namely lead titanate, lead stannate, lead zirconate, and some of these dielectric compositions have dielectric constants in the range 7500-10000, which make them particularly suitable for multilayer ceramic capacitors. The conventionally employed ceramics (U.S. coding Z5U) are not compatible with high silver content electrodes and usually have dielectric constants lower than 7500-10000. The electronics industry, generally, requires smaller components, and smaller and cheaper capacitors can be obtained by producing dielectrics which are compatible with high silver content electrodes and have even higher dielectric constants than those proposed in British Patent Application No. 8120605.